by Seven Steps
“But, do you know what’s more important than a lie?” she asked.
I shook my head.
“Telling the truth when it counts.”
“What if it’s not enough?” I asked.
She smiled and brushed another hair from my face.
“Oh, sweetie. It will always be enough.”
She pulled me in to a tight hug, then set me away from her.
“Now, go wash your face and reapply your make-up. You can’t face the world looking like a drowning raccoon.”
She stood and smoothed her skirt. I wished she’d stay. I needed some more mothering, if just for a little while.
“What if I’m not ready to face the world?” I asked.
She chuckled and started toward the door, her heels clicking their slow Morse Code with each step.
“Bella, dear, if there is one thing that I know about you, it’s that your heart is bigger than you realize. Don’t worry about if you’re ready to face the world. The world should be worried about facing you.”
31
They say that dictators empower themselves while leaders empower those around them.
I walked into the lunch room, determined to become a leader.
Dana Rich had messed with the wrong person this morning. I was no longer invisible. I had power now. People knew my name. It was time to exercise that power and start to overturn Dana’s stupid rules, and I knew just which one to start with.
I stopped in the invisible section. My sights were set on two people.
Jelissa Turrington and Chad Jackson.
“Hey,” I said, standing in front of them.
The ousted lovers looked up at me with frowns. None of the popular kids had talked to them since Jake and Dana had broken up. I was proud to be the first.
Dana and her crew stood a few feet behind me, their high-pitched gossiping going silent.
“I’m Bella French,” I said. “Jake Winsted’s girlfriend.”
“We know who you are,” Jelissa replied. “Everyone does.”
I cleared my throat, gathering my courage and control.
“Okay. Well then, I would like to personally invite you to eat lunch with me today.”
They looked at each other in shock. Then they looked back at me.
“At Jake’s table?” Chad asked.
“Yes.”
“With the popular kids?” Jelissa asked. “Dana said that we’re not allowed over there.”
“Yes. I know that Dana tried to oust you but she’s not important anymore. I am. Will you sit with us? Please?”
Chad and Jelissa looked at each other again, unsaid words passing between them. Finally, Jelissa stood.
“Sure.”
Chad stood, too.
I was vaguely aware that the lunch room had gone completely silent. The gauntlet had been thrown. I, Bella French, had defied Dana’s command. I had given my first pardon to someone that she’d condemned to social death. A sizzle of power and pride rushed through me. I wasn’t just sitting by the sidelines watching the game. I had thrown a ball. I had done something good. Worthy. Gallant. All eyes turned to us as I led Jelissa and Chad to Jake’s table.
Eric saw me coming first, along with my two guests. He caught my eye and winked.
A moment later, I knew exactly what that wink meant when he stood up and held out his hand to Chad for a high five.
“Chadwick!”
Chad looked shocked for a moment before he slapped his hand against Eric’s with a confused smile.
Eric’s show of support touched my heart. I sent him a grateful smile.
He smiled back.
I then turned my attention to Jake, awaiting his sign off on my little stunt.
Jake’s gaze swept over me, a mixture of confusion and irritation. I could read exactly what he was thinking. He wanted to know why I was defying Dana.
I wanted to tell him that I defied her to bring peace and unity to the student body again. I wanted to say that I defied her because no one should have the power to banish students to the realms of invisibility, like she’d done with Chad and Jelissa. What I wouldn’t tell him was the biggest reason of all. A reason that I didn’t want to admit. I defied her out of plain old revenge. I’m sure that made me a selfish person but after what I’d been through, a little selfishness didn’t seem so bad. Besides, she’d thrown the first stone. I was returning with cannons. Now, the ball was in her court. Whatever she threw at me, I’d be ready.
I was a leader now and all Dana was ever going to be was mean.
Chad, Jelissa and the rest of the lunchroom watched us, wondering if Jake would agree to this treasonous act.
After a moment, he let out a breath through his nose and stood. With unhurried strides, he walked around the lunch table. Expensive sneakers, jeans and a football jersey made him look like he was about to take the field at an NFL game as the hot shot quarterback. There was no doubt about it. Jake Winsted was hot. Maniacal, but hot.
He stood in front of Chad, who stayed seated.
“Chad Jackson,” he said, holding out his hand.
Chad looked at Jelissa with something akin to euphoria, stood and held out his hand to complete the handshake.
And just like that, Chad and Jelissa were popular once again by order of King Jake, and with a little nudging from Queen Bella.
I raised a victorious eyebrow at Dana. She practically had smoke coming out of her ears.
Good. I hoped her hair lit on fire.
The lunchroom returned to whispers and discussions of what this all meant. I was the Queen of the school as Jake’s girlfriend, but I was a new Queen. Dana had held the title for years and had developed many faithful followers. Followers who were torn. Who was in charge now? Did Dana still rule, or was my word law?
I half listened to the passionate debate that carried on around me while the rest of my brain focused on what was going on at my table. Chad and Jelissa had been absorbed back into the folds of popularity.
Pride rose within me. I did this. I’d given two students a second chance.
The small accomplishment made me wonder what else I could do? Who else’s life could I change?
Jake’s eyes wandered over to mine. He looked surprised. No one had ever defied Dana before. Did that put me in the doghouse with him? After all, wasn’t this whole charade so that he could get back with her?
I nibbled at my sandwich and tried to put it out of my mind. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Regina staring at me, a small smile on her face. I ignored her. She may have turned into an angel overnight but I still didn’t trust her. There was something in her eyes that screamed fake. Like the Devil offering Eve the fruit. I would not be so naïve.
“Wow.” Dana talked obnoxiously loud from her table next to ours. “Three dogs at one table. We should totally call the dog catcher and tell him that we have a mutt problem.”
Her friends laughed and gave her high fives.
I didn’t find it funny at all. It was time to do my second good deed for the day.
“Save your jokes, Dana, because believe it or not, your reign of terror is over,” I said. “From now on, the girls in this school can date whomever they want, whenever they want. The ban is lifted.”
The popular girls at Dana’s table sat up straight, their eyes glued to their leader. But Dana was not one to give in. She feigned innocence, but I could smell the lies on her.
“Ban? I didn’t ban you girls from dating anyone, did I?”
Some of the girls looked down, while the others nodded their heads in agreement.
“See. My friends are free to do whatever they want. Why don’t you go find more homeless puppies to stink up the cool table with? Oh and when you do, remember that you and your new animal friends are not invited to Stephanie’s party on Friday.”
Jake looked directly at Dana.
“Cole and Jelissa are coming to the party Friday.”
Dana leveled him with a hard gaze of her own. “No. They’re not.”
“They are.” Jake said. “Stephanie already said they could. Didn’t you, Steph?”
Stephanie’s mouth opened and closed like a fish as she looked between Jake and Dana. She loved her queen, but Jake was Jake. There was no stopping the storm that would come upon her if she went against him. Everyone knew that.
“Um, sure. They’re welcomed, I guess.”
Jake gave her one of his sweet smiles.
“Thanks, Steph.”
“You’re welcome, Jake.”
Stephanie was instantly turned into a giggly, gooey mess. I felt sorry for her. She was a power leech. The kind of girl that wanted the biggest, baddest guy in the room as her boyfriend so that she could feel safe from the world and at the same time, feel free to talk as much crap as she wanted without fear of reparation. She’d had her eye on Jake for as long as I’d known her but recently, she’d been secretly flirting with the other boys around the table too, including Cole.
Dana scowled at her.
“Well, I guess I’ve been overruled,” she said. Her eyes turned dark. Conniving. She raised one eyebrow in Jake’s direction. “It doesn’t matter who is at the party as long as Dustin is there.”
Up until then, the guy who’d been sitting next to her was buried in his phone. I’d seen him around. Dustin Rodriguez. The same boy that she’d made out with at The Center a few days ago. He was on the low end of the popularity totem pole, but his awesome clothes and his laid-back personality had him climbing fast. I wasn’t sure why he would make enemies with the popular guys in school just to side with Dana.
He looked like he’d been playing a game or something on his phone. At the mention of his name, he perked up.
“What’s up?”
Dana grabbed his collar, pulled her to him and kissed him slowly, seductively.
I watched Jake’s hand grip the edge of the table. I was sure that it would snap off. I had to do something before he murdered Dustin. Not that I cared about Dustin, but judging by his surprised look when Dana pulled away, it was clear that he was a little more than an innocent bystander in this relationship.
Were Dana and Jake playing the same game against each other?
Either way, I had to get Jake out of there before he did some serious damage.
“Uh, Jake, can you help me with something in the hallway?”
He didn’t hear me at first, his murderous eyes locked on Dustin.
I hit him with the back of my hand, pulling his attention to me.
“Jake, can you help me with something in the hallway?”
I stood and walked through the lunchroom. I didn’t stop until I had walked through the double doors and entered the hallway. Right past the doors, Kenny and another kid were huddled in the corner. Another drug deal, no doubt. I remembered what Detective Harding had said about Jake’s new pastime. Was the drug problem really that bad at our school? How long until Jake went down with this drug fueled ship? Would I be the one to take him down or would I sink with him?
Jake arrived a second after me. His eyes met Kenny’s and both of the guilty parties power-walked down the hallway and disappeared.
I could see that Jake wanted to punch something but there was only walls and lockers out here.
“That Dustin kid is a joke! When we get back on the field, I’m going to hit him so hard that his fillings come out!”
“She’s just trying to get under your skin.”
“She’s trying to get me to murder Dustin Rodriguez.”
He swore and kicked a locker, leaving a huge dent in the bottom of it.
“God. I hate that kid!” he cried.
“Jake, you have to calm down!”
“She’s playing me.” He kicked the locker again, his large body still stalking the hallway.
“Look. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe we should end this game that you and Dana are playing. You obviously still like each other or else you wouldn’t be trying to make each other jealous.”
He kept up his rant, not hearing a word that I was saying.
“Why don’t you tell Dana how you feel?” I asked. “We can end this right now. March in there, pull her off Dustin and carry her away in to the sunset.”
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“She knows how I feel about her. If she wanted to come back, she would have been back already.”
“But-”
“Just stay out of it!” he bellowed.
I bit off the flurry of curses that I wanted to say and used this opportunity to move the conversation in a new direction.
“Did you see Kenny out here?”
“Yeah. So what?”
“He seems to be around a lot more than I remember. Weird, huh?”
“What’s weird about it?”
I shrugged. “I just don’t know much about him, except that he’s the pot hook up around here.” I smoothed my features, trying to keep my voice even and casual. “How well do you know Kenny?”
He shrugged. “All my life. Why?”
“Don’t you think it’s weird that he’s always lurking in a corner somewhere? I mean, before he was-”
“Leave it alone.”
“But I’m just saying-”
“I said…” He turned to face me and my blood ran cold. There was so much threat in his eyes. “Leave it alone.”
I wanted to run, but I wouldn’t run from Jake’s threats. I had too much pride for that.
“You can’t bully me, Jake. You can’t force me to say what you want me to say and to think what you want me to think and not question anything.”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“You will stay away from Kenny. You will not ask any questions about Kenny. You will continue to do what I tell you to do or I will march in to the lunch room, pop your little popular bubble, and break up Ariel and Eric permanently.” His hand clamped on to my upper arm. He was close. His nostrils flared. He was glaring down at me.
“Do you understand me?”
“You can’t intimidate me, Jake.” The strength in my voice surprised me, considering that I was freaking out. We were in an empty hallway and he was twice my size. I’d never thought that Jake would hurt me but as I stood alone in this hallway, with him glaring down on me and knowing who he really was, I began to reconsider that thought.
“Don’t presume to tell me what I can and cannot do, Bella. You’d be surprised.”
“Get off her, Jake.”
The commanding tone came from by the door. I looked. It was Cole.
“Mind your business, brother,” Jake said.
“I said, get off her.”
“And I told you to leave.”
Cole was by my side in an instant, his face turning a crazy shade of red.
“I am going to count to three, and then I’m going to break your arm.”
The two brothers glared at each other, with me standing awkwardly in the middle. I felt the heat coming off them. The rage.
“One,” Cole said.
Jake didn’t release me. In fact, his grip tightened.
“Two.”
Suddenly, blood flowed in to my arm as Jake’s grip loosened. I stumbled back, rubbing the soreness away. Without me between them, Jake and Cole were chest to chest. With their identical height and build, it was difficult to see who would win if they started fighting. I prayed that it would be Cole.
“Stay out of my business,” Jake said. “We all have our secrets. I’d hate to share yours.”
“You touch her again and I will rip your head off.”
“I’d like to see you try it.”
They stared at each other for a long minute. One side of Cole’s mouth ticked.
“Consider this your only warning. If I catch you beating up on her, me and you will have a problem. If you even breathe in a way that she doesn’t like, I will be there to make you regret it.”
“Oohh. I’m shaking.” Jake held out one hand and jokingly shook it.
Cole was not amused.
/> I’d never seen anyone stand up to Jake before. The fact that it was Cole, and that it was over me, stole my breath away. I was both fearful and grateful.
“You will. You know what I’m capable of.”
“And you know what I’m capable of.”
“I guess we’ll see then.”
The bell rang and the brothers stepped back from each other. Jake walked down the hallway and turned the same corner that Kenny had while Cole came to me.
“Did he hurt you?” he asked, eyeing my arm.
I shook my head.
“No.”
He looked like he didn’t believe me and frowned.
“If he does anything that makes you uncomfortable, anything at all, tell me immediately. You understand?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Text, phone, social media, smoke signals, however you need to contact me. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
We stood our ground, gazing at each other while the rest of the student body flowed around us.
“Why did you stand up for me?” I asked.
Cole’s eyes turned sad. Like he wanted to tell me something. I stood, waiting for him to speak. To reveal what was going on in his head.
“I, uh…” He scratched his head. “If something happens to you, then I fail English and French. I gotta keep my grades up, so…”
He jammed his hands in his pockets.
I knew two things in that moment.
First, Cole was lying.
Second, I hated that he felt like he needed to lie to me. Why couldn’t he just talk to me? I wanted him to talk to me.
“Just, uh, keep me posted, okay?” he said.
“Yeah. Okay.”
He nodded and walked backward.
“I’ll see you in study hall.”
“Yeah.”
He took a few more steps backward before finally turning and walking away, leaving me confused and shaking in the hallway. In that moment, I knew that I had to stop Jake and Kenny and their drugs. I had to get the information to Detective Harding before any real damage was done. Before they killed someone.
But how?
32
Something weird was going on inside of me.
